What Is a Refugee?

Description

With the recent arrival in Europe of over a million refugees and asylum-seekers, a sense of panic began to spread across the continent and beyond. William Maley’s illuminating introduction offers a guide to the complex idea of ‘the refugee’ and sets the current crisis within the wider history of human exile, injecting much-needed objectivity and nuance into the debate.

Arguing that Western states are now reaping the consequences of policies aimed at blocking safe and ‘legal’ access to asylum, What is a Refugee? shows why many proposed solutions to the refugee ‘problem’ will exacerbate tension and risk fuelling the growth of extremism among people who have been denied all hope.

This lucid book also tells of the families and individuals who have sought refuge, highlighting the suffering, separation and dislocation on their perilous journeys to safety. Through such stories we can begin to answer the question, what is a refugee?

Reviews

‘Debunking some of the popular assumptions about the refugee crisis, with a look into the causes behind the flight from one’s homeland … Maley raises the vexing question of why we consider people in a developed and stable country entitled to all the benefits of modernity, whereas others are expected to put up with murder, pillage and mayhem.’ — Geographical Magazine

‘With the arrival in Europe of over a million refugees and people seeking asylum in 2015, a sense of panic began to spread within the continent and beyond. What Is a Refugee? puts these developments into historical context, injecting much-needed objectivity and nuance into contemporary debates over what is to be done.’ — Refugee Council of Australia

‘This book is an eye-opener. It is an elegant, expert account of the history of refugees, their formal rights, and their shrinking prospects. It will leave no reader unmoved, and no conscience untroubled.’ — Philip Pettit, L.S.Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values, Princeton University, and author of Just Freedom: A Moral Compass for a Complex World

‘William Maley has done the world a great service—introducing one of the key questions of our times with rich insight and clarity. His book is a thoroughly readable and essential exploration of refugee issues. I learnt a huge amount from his writing, and I highly recommend it.’ — Patrick Kingsley, Migration Correspondent, The Guardian; Foreign Affairs Journalist of the Year, British Journalism Awards 2015

‘An excellent introduction for the general reader on refugee issues and the national and international political context in which they are located. Lucidly and fluently written, Maley’s deep and humane understanding and wide-reading across history and literature shines through on every page.’ — Matthew Gibney, Professor of Politics and Forced Migration, University of Oxford

‘A compelling, engaging and short book aimed at non-specialists who are interested in understanding the roots and complexities of the refugee crises.  A pleasure to read.’ — Rosa Freedman, Professor of Law, Conflict and Global Development, University of Reading, and author of Failing to Protect: The UN and Politicisation of Human Rights 

‘This timely, informative and highly accessible book tackles the thorny issue of what happens to people fleeing fear and repression around the world.  Maley cuts through technical jargon and legal terminology to bring to the lay reader an understanding of how some of the key challenges of refugee protection are being managed in the twenty-first century.  Highly recommended.’ — Dawn Chatty, Emerita Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration and former director of the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford

Author(s)

William Maley is Emeritus Professor of Diplomacy at Australian National University, and the author of many books on Afghan politics and history.